Tactics in 'Iron Curtain'
Scenario Two: SPEARHEAD, Part 4
By Doug McNair
August 2007

The final test of the Soviet Blockade of Berlin happens in today’s episode of my Iron Curtain Scenario #2 replay.

In Episode 3, the Soviets stopped the American advance all along the line, battled back in the east to nearly retake the woods, and began an infantry advance down the central road after killing the tanks holding the town hex in the American center, thus forcing the Americans to commit half their tank reserve to shore up the line there.

Bad command decisions at the top (in the form of Fog of War rolls) prevented an orderly American advance behind a carefully-layed smokescreen in the west, and with the American right and center crumbling the G.I.s had no choice but to make a frontal assault on the western woods.

A devastating American artillery barrage cut the odds against the assault dramatically, but opportunity fire from Soviet tanks, infantry and halftracks in the woods and the central town cut the advancing infantry to bits. Only the hardest core of the infantry made it to the edge of the woods, so the Americans moved their tanks and APCs forward to the hilltop for an all-or-nothing duel with the Soviet lines in the woods.

The battle rages on.

Turn 16: 0945 Hours

The Soviets beat the Americans by one activation, and the major commanding the Soviet counterattack in the eastern woods orders a double assault against the two remaining American-held hexes there. The northern assault uses combined arms (tank and infantry) and kills an American INF step and demoralizes the other (one American step loss), while the Americans score an M1 result that demoralizes the Soviet lieutenant leading the assault and disrupts the INF unit there. The southern assault disrupts the remaining half-strength American INF while the Soviets take no damage.

Then M26 and M4/76 tanks plus M3 halftracks open fire on the Soviet front lines in the western woods, and Soviet JS-3 and T34/85 tanks in the central town return fire. Both sides shoot very badly, with just one Soviet halftrack dying (one Soviet step loss) and just one M4/76 step on the hill getting smoked in return (two American step losses; the other M4/76 step is demoralized).

Then more M26 heavy tanks open fire on the JS-2s at the east end of the woods, trying to kill them so they can’t counterassault the American infantry that’s about to go into the woods. Several shells bounce off Soviet armor but none penetrates, while an American INF with the M26s recovers from being demoralized. The JS-2s return fire and kill one M26 step while demoralizing another (two American step losses), and a reduced JS-2 unit in the same hex recovers to good order and the neighboring JS-3s recover from being demoralized.

Then American offboard artillery hits the target hex of the assault, and rolls a 4 on the 55 column to kill a Soviet SMG step (one Soviet step loss), disrupt the lieutenant colonel and demoralize the other SMG step! A neighboring Soviet lieutenant sends a reduced SMG unit down the line into the hex, while trying to get the units in the assault hex and the neighboring hex to recover morale. None does, and the demoralized SMG flees.

With all Soviets in the adjoining hexes having activated there’s no reason to delay. The disrupted lieutenant next to the woods sends his one good-order, reduced INF unit into the assault hex while he and the HMG unit with him try to recover morale. He recovers but the HMG does not and flees, and neither side does any damage in the assault, but the Americans now have a toe-hold in the woods.

A T44 in the eastern part of the woods fires twice but misses tanks on the hill, and then American mortars drop smoke to cover the upcoming American infantry and APC advance from the hill. The Soviets take advantage of the American smokescreen to drive their reserve halftracks all the way into the central town and drop off the last of their reserve SMGs (doing that without the smokescreen would have exposed the halftracks to tank fire). Then American M24 light tanks and M39 APCs charge down the hill toward the woods, with an APC picking up a reduced INF unit on the way.

The Soviet infantry company that was heading south on the road toward the town hex on Board 18 now thinks better of it and turns around, heading northwest toward the American assault on the woods. More APCs come off the hill and rush the woods, and more Soviet tanks move into the central town so they can fire at the hilltop. American offboard artillery hits the Soviet infantry coming in from the road and disrupts their lieutenant, and a JS-3 unit from the forward reserve moves to join the JS-2 at the west end of the woods.

The demoralized American INF in the eastern woods assault hex with the Soviet tanks and infantry recovers morale, and an American lieutenant outside the woods rushes in to their assistance but is mowed down by fire from Su-76s in the eastern town. The turn then ends on recoveries and redeployments, with divine intervention from the Smoke Gods causing the two smoke markers to drift just enough so that they block all LOS between the central town and the Americans rushing the woods! General Ego may get his photo op after all.

The score now stands at Soviets 50, Americans 95.

Turn 17: 1000 Hours

The Soviets win initiative by one activation, and the only Soviet tank that can see past the smoke to any assault force units (the T44 on the eastern end of the Soviet woods line) rolls a modified 14 to obliterate the entire M24 light tank platoon charging across the clearing to the woods (four American step losses). It then kills an M3 halftrack unit for good measure (one American step loss).

With the neighboring tank gone, the Soviet M3 halftrack that’s with the T44 moves into the neighboring hex to reinforce the disrupted HMG unit there. The Americans need to get the rest of the M39 APCs into the assault hex with the INF, but that’s suicide with two good-order JS-2 units in the neighboring woods hex. So M26 units on the hill fires on the JS-2s and T44s in the woods, an M24 step charges off the hilltop to join the assault, and more tanks and an INF try to recover morale.

All tank shots miss and all morale checks fail, and a demoralized M26 unit flees to the southern slope of the hill. The full-strength JS-2 unit and the just-arrived JS-3s return fire but miss, and then the reduced JS-2 unit counterassaults the Americans in the woods along with an HMG unit and an INF that’s already in the assault hex. The attack is on the 18 column while the American defense is just on the 3 column, and the Soviets roll a 6 to wipe out the American INF (one American step loss) while the Americans do no damage.

M4/76 tanks on the hilltop blast away at the JS-2 step that just helped wipe out the lead American assault platoon but they all miss, and one previously-demoralized M4/76 unit fails to recover and flees. M39 APCs motor north off the hilltop with a major to join the assault, while M3s stay on the hilltop to guard the hill against a Soviet counterassault. Soviet tanks in the central town then kill 3 steps of M24/76s on the hilltop and demoralize the last one (six American step losses), and then five Soviet INF and SMG platoons charge southwest and up the hill from the central town. The smokescreen prevents all American units heading for the woods from firing at them, and opportunity fire from the M3s on the hilltop has no effect.

Offboard artillery from both sides has no effect, and since the Americans know the Soviets have plenty more artillery and mortar shots on the way, the lieutenant orders his INF and APCs out of the clearing north of the hill (where they’ll get obliterated by tank fire next turn if the smoke clears) and north to the western side of the woods, from where they’ll be able to assault two Soviet heavy tank platoons that have no infantry support and just maybe outflank the Soviet line. But, Soviet onboard artillery puts paid to that idea, hitting the American lieutenant with an X result, killing an APC (one American step loss) and demoralizing the INF unit with him.

With no choice left to them, the Americans commit the last of their tank reserves, sending a company of M4 Shermans plus two M39 APC units north from the woods to the southern slope to fight the Soviet infantry. Mortar and artillery fire from both sides is ineffective, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll. One of the smoke markers dissipates but the other stays in place.

The score is now Soviets 63, Americans 95.

Turn 18: 1015 Hours

The Soviets beat the Americans by one activation, and the JS2s and JS3s on the extreme Soviet right promptly smoke the two APCs the Americans brought to assault them, kill an M26 step while demoralizing another, and kill the reduced M24 tank unit that rushed the woods along with the APCs (six American step losses).

The demoralized M24/76 tank step on the hilltop tries to rally but fails and flees, and the and the neighboring M3 halftracks pull back to the south slope to keep from getting smoked by tank fire from the town. The T44s in the woods and a reduced M26 on the hill miss each other, and then Soviet infantry swarms over the hilltop. Opportunity fire from the Shermans and APCs is ineffective, and then Soviet infantry kills one of the last two steps of American INF in the eastern woods (one American step loss) along with a lieutenant there. With Soviet infantry about to cut their retreat route, the American assault force by the western woods has no choice but to retreat south.

The Soviets then wipe out the last INF step in the eastern woods (one American step loss).

The Americans have no choice but to lay smoke to cover a general retreat, but not before Soviet offboard artillery kills another American INF step (one American step loss), and Soviet heavy tanks charge out of the towns to mop up the American tanks.

The score is now Soviets 72, Americans 95.

Turn 19: 1030 Hours

The Soviets win initiative and kill a step of the last full-strength M26 unit but do not demoralize the other (two American step losses). The M26 and JS-3 trade fire but miss, the M4/76s in the town on Board 18 fail to kill any JS3 steps, and the T44s east of the eastern woods kill the last M26 step by the southeastern swamps (2 American step losses). The last undemoralized M26 step of all manages to kill a T44 step in the western woods and disrupt the other (two Soviet step losses), but the JS-2s smoke it in return along with a demoralized M26 step (four American step losses), and the JS3s charge after the retreating, demoralized American infantry. The Americans pin down those JS-3s with an otherwise ineffective assault while the demoralized INF recover, and Soviet onboard artillery kills the offending INF step (one American step loss). The turn ends on a Fog of War roll after more Soviet troops go up the hill.

The score is now Soviets 81, Americans 99.

Turn 20: 1045 Hours

The Americans win initiative for a change, and two tank steps cover for retreating APCs and infantry by firing at Soviet tanks cresting the hill. The tanks miss and get smoked for their trouble by the Soviet tanks (four American step losses), and Soviet infantry assaults and kills an American infantry step before it can get away (one American step loss).

The M24/76s in the town hex on Board 18 try to kill all the Soviet tanks they can to let the APCs get away, but they miss the JS-2s. The JS-3s on the road kill two entire platoons of old M4 Shermans (8 American step losses), and the third platoon runs for the woods. JS-2 by the woods kill just one step of M4/76s in the town and demoralize the other (two American step losses), and more M39 APCs run from the hill before they get assaulted. Soviet offboard artillery kills an HMG step in the open (one American step loss), and Soviet units assault American units that haven’t made it to the woods yet so they can’t get away. American offboard artillery kills a Soviet HMG step and disrupts the other step (one Soviet step loss), and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll after more Soviet infantry advance. The persistent smoke marker on the hilltop stays there yet again.

The score is now Soviets 97, Americans 102.

Turn 21: 1100 Hours

The Soviets win initiative and pile in to assault the last American INF step northeast of the hill in a combined-arms assault, killing one step of it and demoralizing the other (one American step loss). The Americans pull a disrupted tank step into the woods before it can get killed, and the Soviets kill the last three tank steps in the town on Board 18 (six American step losses).

The Americans pull their M3 halftracks into the woods and the JS-2s kill an M39 APC with long-range fire, along with the reduced INF unit it’s carrying (two American step losses). The other M39 pulls into the woods, and with the last American INF unit northeast of the hill sure to die next turn in the assault (one American step loss), the Soviets have driven all the Americans back past the Red Line. They consider the point made, and cease firing.

With 9 more points scored for enemy steps killed plus 12 points scored for the remaining American trucks that failed to exit the north edge, the final score is Soviets 118, Americans 102. The Soviets beat the Americans by 16 points, which is exactly what they need for a Major Victory. Berlin falls to communism (at least until communism falls), and America learns a valuable lesson in preparedness: Never, never go to war unless you’ve got the boots on the ground and the heavy weaponry required to finish the job.

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